The invention concerns a gripping device with carriages provided with movable gripping elements wherein the carriages are guided in a common guide groove formed in a base body and arranged one after the other in the grasping direction of the gripping elements. The gripping elements extend parallel to the gripping direction and are mechanically movable between an open and a closed position and are supported all around in a direction transverse to the gripping direction.
Such a parallel gripping device is disclosed for example in DE 103 44 255 A1. Herein, however the carriages are supported directly by the base body.
DE 201 05 449 U1 discloses a fluid-operated gripping device wherein, between a guide groove formed in a housing in which the carriages which support the gripping elements are supported, and the carriages, cylindrical guide pins are loosely disposed. The guide pins are each partially surrounded by the carriages and the guide groove.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a gripping device which can generate a large clamping force but requires only a small space and has only a relatively small mass. Furthermore, the guide system should have a high loading capacity, it should be very accurate and it should be wear-resistant.